Additive manufacturing, such as three-dimensional printing, can be seen as largely a materials problem. One of the limitations of current methods is a limited materials palette and slow build speeds.
These and other limitations of the prior art are avoided by a methodology known as Composite-Based Additive Manufacturing (CBAM). CBAM is described in full in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/582,939, filed Nov. 2, 2012, Ser. No. 14/835,690, filed Aug. 25, 2015, and Ser. No. 14/835,635, filed Aug. 25, 2015, each of which is incorporated fully herein by reference.
International application no. PCT/US17/17672, filed Feb. 13, 2017, describes a particular method and apparatus for automating Composite-Based Additive Manufacturing (CBAM). International application no. PCT/US17/1772 is incorporated fully herein by reference.
A problem arises during the automated design and manufacture of a 3D object, using the CBAM method, which is how to get sheets automatically stacked on top of each other while holding precise sheet-to-sheet registration.
Use of registration pins as a way of registering things together is a method that is widely used. For example in metal stamping registration pins can be used in stages to assure that multiple steps will be done in register. A similar process is used in making negatives for four color process printing.